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Ford CEO Alan Mulally

Ford CEO Alan Mulally made it as clear as he possibly could in New York on Tuesday: he's not going anywhere. Despite recent stories that Ford's board is about to name Mark Fields as chief operating officer and a possible successor, Mulally said his plan is to continue to serve as the company's chief executive.

It's clear Mulally, 67, is getting tired of being asked about the subject. As the Detroit News reported, "In a flash of irritation with the rumors of his impending departure, Mulally rejected the suggestion. "Please don't write me off yet — I mean, I love it here."

That is a plea that countless other CEOs most likely have uttered to their boards. But Mulally is a little different than the usual chief executive who comes up through a company's ranks. For one thing, he only got to Dearborn, Mich., six years ago this month, becoming CEO at age 61.

He barely got any honeymoon. Ford was in turmoil when he arrived in town, and much of his time has been taken up with directing Ford's latest turnaround. Now, it looks like he's got to lead yet another one at Ford's European operations, which are projected to lose $1 billion this year.

The only reason why anyone would be talking about Mulally's successor right now is his age. Mulally is two years beyond the industry's traditional retirement age, although that's never meant much in Detroit. Lee Iacocca stayed past 65 at Chrysler. Rick Wagoner was gone at GM years before he was close to retirement age. Mulally replaced a CEO, Bill Ford Jr., who was only 49 when he passed over the day-to-day responsibilities.

You can't blame him for wanting to stay, especially since Mulally never got a chance to be CEO at Boeing. He's at the stage where people write books about his leadership style. He'll be a star attraction when it comes time to teach at The Wharton School and Stanford.

Still, one of a CEO's biggest responsibilities is to set forth a clear succession plan. It's a sign of confidence when a leader trusts his or her managers enough to tap and groom a replacement. Employees calm down when they can see that a leader's policies will not just be the flavor of the month, but the way the company will be run when the transition takes place.

No CEO wants to be a lame duck. But it's also not good for the subject to keep coming up -- and you know the Detroit press corps won't let it drop until Ford says something definitive. Plus, it's always best to leave the party while people will miss you, rather than have the hosts be relieved that they can finally turn out the porch light.